Hundreds Join Pro-Hamas Demonstration in Ramallah

'Day of Rage' in Israel Monday finds parallel in PA, as demonstrators insist Hamas is the 'only way' to actualize Palestinians' demands.

By Dalit Halevi, Tova Dvorin

First Publish: 7/22/2014, 2:36 PM

Pro-Palestinian protest, Nazareth, July 2014

Flash90

Hundreds of Palestinian Arabs demonstrated in the streets of Ramallah on Monday, according to Safa news agency, in support for Hamas and its constant barrage of rocket fire on Israel.

The protest march began immediately after evening prayers, according to the daily, with a broadcast played in the central square with a message supporting Hamas's "military wing," the Al-Qassam Brigades.

According to the protestors, Hamas is the only solution for actualizing the "aspirations of the Palestinian people," and they called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to immediately cease all security coordination with Israel.

Plainclothes PA police confiscated weapons during the protest, and arrested two Hamas members.

Pro-Palestinian protestor, Nazareth, July 2014 Flash90

Ramallah's rioting follows a "Day of Rage" in Yafo and Nazareth, where violent clashes broke between Arab rioters and Israeli police as demonstrators screamed anti-Israel slogans and waved PLO flags.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said around 200 Arab Israelis in Nazareth clashed with security forces, who responded with water cannons and stun grenades, arresting 10 people after the 3,000-strong demonstration in Israel's largest Arab city.

Demonstrators held up placards reading "Israeli army commits genocide in Gaza," an AFP correspondent said.

Later, demonstrations in Yafo were kept relatively quiet due to a heavy police presence in the Israeli Arab city.